Stupid Experiment Draws Stupid Conclusion

February 16, 2011 -

Bust out your padded headwear, dear readers because this story will make you facepalm.

Hard.

According to Kotaku, South Korea’s Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation ran a news story attempting to demonstrate that violent video games do indeed make players violent.  How did it do this?  Simple.  It went to a net café where customers pay to use the internet and shut off all the computers.  Observing the profanity-laced reaction of the establishment’s patrons, the report noted:

"They've been transformed into the violent characters they are playing."

The segment reportedly vexed many a viewer who pointed out that anyone would be upset if the service they were paying for was suddenly cut off and the show should apologize to the café’s customers and refund their money.

Hopefully MBC won’t simply chalk up its viewers' reactions to the aftereffects of playing a violent video game.

Thanks to Rodrigo Ybáñez García for bringing this story to our attention.

-Reporting from San Diego, GamePolitics Correspondent Andrew Eisen

Comments

Re: Stupid Experiment Draws Stupid Conclusion

Submitted by Erik on Fri, 02/18/2011 - 17:05.

Do you know what would be pure awesome?  During one of their live shows to walk in and unplug their teleprompter.

-Ultimately what will do in mankind is a person's fear of their own freedom-

Re: Stupid Experiment Draws Stupid Conclusion

Submitted by BossMoney on Thu, 02/17/2011 - 15:29.

I'm tempted to say that this 'Experiment' has more solid results then most Violent Video Games = Violent Behavior studies in the U.S.

I would say it, but the experiment has no validity.  But I love the shock-value of such an experiment.  It reminds me of something you might see on TV's Jackass or a prank show.

Re: Stupid Experiment Draws Stupid Conclusion

Submitted by Shalewind on Thu, 02/17/2011 - 11:10.

Perhaps this reporter should go into a modern sports bar and cut the power to the TVs during a game night/afternoon. I suspect he would leave said establishment a lot worse for wear than a game cafe.

Re: Stupid Experiment Draws Stupid Conclusion

Submitted by Neeneko on Thu, 02/17/2011 - 10:06.

Heh.. if this were the US, the reporter would probably have a lawsuit if not an arrest on their hands.

Re: Stupid Experiment Draws Stupid Conclusion

Submitted by Cattleprod on Thu, 02/17/2011 - 01:00.
This reporter sounds like a sociopath. They were genuinely shocked that people responded negatively to them acting like a jerk for no reason? How do they normally conduct themselves?

Re: Stupid Experiment Draws Stupid Conclusion

Submitted by CyberSkull on Wed, 02/16/2011 - 23:48.

I'd be fairly upset rage-filled if someone came along and cut my power just for the hell of it.

Re: Stupid Experiment Draws Stupid Conclusion

Submitted by Mr.Tastix on Wed, 02/16/2011 - 21:31.

wat is this i dont even

----

Randi Tastix - http://randomtastic.com

Re: Stupid Experiment Draws Stupid Conclusion

Submitted by SeanB on Wed, 02/16/2011 - 20:37.

OW! i actually did hit myself in the face when i hit the end of this story. Then, still with hand over face, i laughed at the memory that i'd already been warned.

still though, OW! 

Re: Stupid Experiment Draws Stupid Conclusion

Submitted by NeoFau on Wed, 02/16/2011 - 20:04.

Wow, I really did facepalm.

______________________________________________________________________________________

The universe is hostile, so impersonal Devour to survive... so it is, so it's always been

The universe is hostile, so impersonal Devour to survive... so it is, so it's always been

Re: Stupid Experiment Draws Stupid Conclusion

Submitted by Zerodash on Wed, 02/16/2011 - 19:00.

Laughable, but how long before other outlets with agendas pick up on this?  Seems like ideal fodder for places like Fox News.

 

Re: Stupid Experiment Draws Stupid Conclusion

Submitted by nightwng2000 on Wed, 02/16/2011 - 18:49.

There is no evidence that ALL the patrons were playing games at the computers in the cafe.

So, let's also question the reactions of individusls who become angry/upset/irritated when their business computers go down without warning. Let's also question the reactions of individuals who suffer power outages or dead batteries at the most inopportune moments.

Did your cell phone battery die or did you run out of minutes in the middle of a conversation? Oh dear! Don't become angry or you may be accused of being addicted to your cell phone!

Did your business suffer a power outage while you were on a major deadline? Uh oh! Don't be frantic or raise your voice in panic or you'll be accused of being a workaholic!

Did you suffer a news blackout during a very important news event? Especially a very local news event? What type of criminal are you if you become angry or upset that you are being kept in the dark?

Unexpected events in our lives lead us to emotional reactions. Sometimes rational, sometimes irrational. Yet others would want such reactions to be tied to any number of things they can blame for the purpose of their own agendas.

The station's "story" and "study" is just one such example of agendists taking avantage of poorly performed experiments for the purpose of spreading misinformation, lies, and deceit for personal, political, and/or religious agendas.

Nightwng2000

NW2K Software

http://www.facebook.com/nightwing2000

Nightwng2000 is now admin to the group "Parents For Education, Not Legislation" on MySpace as http://groups.myspace.com/pfenl

Nightwng2000 NW2K Software http://www.facebook.com/nightwing2000 Nightwng2000 is now admin to the group "Parents For Education, Not Legislation" on MySpace as http://groups.myspace.com/pfenl

Re: Stupid Experiment Draws Stupid Conclusion

Submitted by hellfire7885 on Wed, 02/16/2011 - 18:45.

I'd react the same way if someone came in out of the blue and shut my TV off during a movie. Doing that is rude and people tend to react with anger when someone has been rude to them.

Re: Stupid Experiment Draws Stupid Conclusion

Submitted by Andrew Eisen on Wed, 02/16/2011 - 18:09.

Some questions I have:

Did MBC check to see if the cafe's patrons were actually playing violent games?

Was there an actual violent reaction from anyone?

Do vampires have bloody stool?

 

Andrew Eisen

 
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Technogeek: If the developer were male there wouldn't have been a "conversation" in the first place.10/19/2014 - 2:27am
Monte: trolls are just at their absolute worst when it comes to women and feminist. You could bet good money that if the developer were male the trolls would be silent and the conversation would actually focus on the journalism.10/18/2014 - 9:18pm
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Papa Midnight: Monte: That's honestly rather short-sighted. As has been proven with other persons who have been targeted, if it wasn't Quinn, it would be someone else.10/18/2014 - 6:26pm
Avalongod: I think that's part of what gives an esoteric news story like this real life...it taps into a larger narrative about misogyny in society outside of games.10/18/2014 - 3:29pm
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Wonderkarp: Zippy : Havent tried the PS4 controller. might later.10/18/2014 - 2:37pm
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ZippyDSMlee: Wonderkarp: You might be able to if you had a PS4 controller.10/18/2014 - 1:00pm
MaskedPixelante: http://store.steampowered.com/app/327940/ Night Dive starts charging for freeware.10/18/2014 - 12:21pm
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quiknkold: The whole thing is Futile. Both sides are so buried deep in their trenchs that there isnt a conversation. Its just Finger Pointing, Name Calling, Doxxing, Threats. there needs to be a serious conversation, and GG isnt it.10/17/2014 - 7:37pm
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Matthew Wilson: while he focused on gg, he did call out both sides crap.10/17/2014 - 7:18pm
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Matthew Wilson: http://www.giantbomb.com/articles/letter-from-the-editor-10-17-2014/1100-5049/ deferentially a nice write up.10/17/2014 - 6:44pm
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